Survivor 47 | Ep. 1
SURVIVOR 47 IS HEEEEEEERRRRREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
First, it’s great to be back on the blog. I’m ready to deep dive into the stories, the players, and the drama of all that will be Survivor 47. I’m ready for my creativity to run wild all over this blog as I watch, digest, and analyze all the nooks and crannies this season.
Next, I have been up to quite a bit on the off season. I have pledged to make a video of myself making fire with a creative touch that maybe my brain only understands. So, to date, we are at day 52 so click here to view the Fire in honor of the Survivor 47 premiere.
QUICK THOUGHT ENTERING INTO 47
MOST INTRIGUED BY _____________ ENTERING SURVIVOR 47
Jon Lovett.
Yes, I know that many will be joining me on this intrigue but walking into the new season and having someone with as high a non-returning player profile as a former Obama speech writer and host of Pod Save America (one of the most listened to/downloaded podcasts in the world, I’m intrigued to see deeper into his brain, see how his intelligence and way with words comes through, and if anyone will recognize him and how that could play out. He’s a celebrity but a podcaster, so really a quasi faceless celebrity. Who knows, maybe someone will recognize him from his voice only.
OPENING MINUTES
Sam is a “wolf in wolf’s clothing”
Aysha “wouldn’t hurt a fly but she has a fly swatter in her back pocket”
Tiyana is the “first native Hawaiian to play”
Anika “might play a little evil”
Sue is ready to say “I’m 59 and I beat all your asses.”
MAROONING WITH JEFF
The forming of a new community is upon us. “Humans always crave community”. Jeff, as always, is in mid season form selling or scaring the crap out of the players with the warmth of forming a community and the cold hard reality of the game of Survivor that they’re about to embark on.
Gabe is a grinder. Teeny is NJ proud with her self made pants. And Andy was unpopular and never fit in until he started being himself. I’m already getting bad vibes from Andy. Trying WAY TOO HARD. My first impression, he’s going to be a lot and people are not going to “vibe” with him.
Next up, Jeff comes to Jon. Ahhhhhh, let my intrigue begin to be answered. He introduces himself as a Podcast Host so I’m thinking he won’t hide his identity and he proves immediately that he will “vibe” with his tribe, unlike Andy, because Jon chooses to introduce himself through self-deprication and humor thinking Andy was lucky to have 4 friends.
Then, Jon shows us a little bit more when asked by Jeff about the energy…
“I’m here in part because every episode you say, “apply, to be on Survivor” (everyone laughs including Jeff and me)…You have this idea what you would play like or what you could play like and I think we’re all nervous because what we would play like or could play like is about to be fact checked against what we will play like. And if you’re cocky that’s excited and if you’re not, it’s not.” - Jon
FIRST CHALLENGE (ALREADY!!!)
Crawl through the mud (classic new era beginning), race into jungle, retrieve puzzle pieces from 1 of 3 areas and complete the cube puzzle.
Sam (my winner pick) immediately displays strategy by covering his eyes with his buff so he can see where he is going. He is first back with a puzzle piece and heads back to get the rest.
Sue is displaying her strength at 59 and TK shows his reckless abandonment through the mud.
TUKU (BLUE TRIBE) is the first to begin the puzzle having all 6 pieces. LAVO (RED TRIBE) is second and GATA (YELLOW TRIBE) is pulling up the rear, but not that far behind. Despite being last to the puzzle, their two ladies (who I don’t even know the names of yet) destroy the puzzle and win the pot, flint, and machete.
WOW! That challenge was a TOTAL BLUR of pure adrenaline and gusto. I need to pause the show and take a break. Can you even imagine what the players are feeling in this challenge? Has to be an out of body experience. Ultimately, puzzle people did it again and when they “GATA” have it, the GATA Tribe had it.
TUKU and LAVO have to make a blind choice of one person Aysha (LAVO) and TK (TUKU) will be tasked with a journey. Rome, an E-Sports Commentator reminds us the audience that the lure of the journey isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He is happy to skip the journey as to not miss out on the opening moments of building relationships with your tribe. I agree Rome. The opening moments are precious. You only get to have that introduction and first conversation once, and TK and Aysha are not going to be part of it.
GATA - Day 1
In the wake of smiles and glee at GATA on Day 1, Jon scratches my itch of intrigue by coming clean to his tribe about being a speech writer and now podcast host of Pod Save America which at least one person on the tribe DEFINITELY LISTENS TO. I’m personally shocked about him coming clean about it. Like, I’m thinking it’s ok to tell people you are a podcast host, but not of one of the most well known and successful podcasts in the world. Tell people the podcast is about politics, don’t tell them that it’s called Pod Save America!!! Seems VERY risky. Having said all that, the coup de grace for Jon’s opening moments is TELLING PEOPLE HE WAS A SPEECH WRITER…
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Target on your back meet Jon, Jon, Target on your back. Good grief. I know people would quickly figure out Jon is very smart, but telling them he was a speech writer, sounds like too honest. It feels like it will only heighten his threat level in the game. People could perceive him as too smart, too savvy, he doesn’t need the money, and the best player in the history of Survivor when it comes to communicating with words, ya know, like if you needed to make a speech to a group of people as to why they should “vote” for you to win a million dollars. He literally has done that for Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. And oh by the way, he’s been watching since Richard Hatch won back in season 1.
I’m very intrigued to see his campaign take shape in the game. I hope he gets to the end just so we can see him write the speech and deliver it at Final Tribal.
Back to Andy, our numbers guy. He educates us about his numbers based strategy and even draws a graphic for us to understand. Sort of.
LOVE A VISUAL!!!
We learn Jon is gay, Andy is bi, and Andy knows Jon’s podcast. While they are off connecting and carrying bamboo together, Sierra, Sam, Anika and _____ are making the typical “unspoken” bond/connection as the ones not connecting in a pair. Quite a contrast.
TUKU - Day 1
They lost the challenge and TK is off on the journey. First impression of Tiyana is a no BS, no nonsense competitor. Strategy is off and running for Gabe who was looking to connect with the oldest person, and lucky for him, he’s with Sue. Sue loves Caroline and sees her daughter in her and I’m thinking Caroline sees mom in her. Not a bad spot to be in.
LAVO - Day 1
Kishan (ER Doctor), is very happy-go-lucky. Teeny is very extroverted and is playing the social butterfly game. Genevieve is vibing with Rome and Teeny and Teeny is reciprocating. However, that leaves Aysha, who isn’t there still to be entered into the good vibes tribe at LAVO.
JOURNEY - TK and AYSHA
We have a race folks. Both got a map and have to retrieve three keys and only one of them is going to find the fourth key and win supplies for their tribe. They each were given a picture to find the first key located in the jungle within the rocks. Then, they get the next picture and repeat.
Great tempo music, big visuals, dried mud, and a final key in the ocean. The drum beats pick up and TK is to the ocean first and walks right by the floating key but soon finds it. I love that Aysha gets out there and grabs at it, but TK wrestles it away and wins the pot, machete and flint.
Then we learn that Aysha is a Survivor podcaster. OOOOOOOOOOOOKAY. Aysha understands the trouble she could be in coming up empty handed to start the game. Plus, she missed the opening conversations. I’m positive that her Survivor podcast obsessive brain is running miles a minute. Let the anxiety begin!!!!
GATA - Day 1
Anika, the project manager is taking the lead of “getting from A to Z” and Sam is happy to have her be that so he can be the “glue guy”. I’m so happy that Sam was my winner pick. I probably would be cast in the Sam spot. I think I will understand him.
Fire attempt number one is falling on Sierra and they got it instantly. Life is good in GATA.
TUKU - Day 1
TK is back in camp with the tribe supplies and the tribe goes crazy. Once again, winning solves a lot of problems. TK gets to come back to camp and tell the truth, come clean, and be the hero. However, not everything can be rainbows and unicorns at TUKU.
The women of TUKU are picking up on the “bromance” between TK, Gabe, and Kyle. I know, I know, this happens every season where the guys “bro-out” and the women get uptight and then the all male or all female alliance talks start. I’m not buying it. Moving on.
The Beware Advantage is BACK!!! The signature advantage of the new era is here again and Gabe is first to lock eyes with it and snags it. No hesitation. Nobody knows but him….until he gets caught by TK. Gabe didn’t want to get caught. Gabe didn’t want to tell TK about the advantage.
Gabe, this was a SLOPPY DISASTER and a prime example of the need to adapt in real time to what the game deals you. You wanted to be slick, you failed. You wanted to keep it a secret to yourself, you failed. Now, if Gabe was smart, he would have fully brought TK in and not played dumb. Hiding information is actually worse than telling people information, especially when you get caught with information/a key 37 minutes into the game.
LAVO - Day 1
Aysha is back at LAVO somber and empty handed. That’s the bad news. The good news is, she can completely come clean and share the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Next, the Rob Has a Podcast host Aysha is recognized by Teeny.
WOW!
So, Teeny recognizes Aysha from her hosting a podcast about Survivor or as she put it as “someone who knows Aysha from a niche podcast”. Instantly, it’s easy to tell how much Aysha LOVES that she was recognized. I mean LOVVVVVVVVVES that Teeny recognized her. Plus, Teeny played it soooo well by using that knowledge to build trust with Aysha. It was a power move disguised as an olive branch. Well done Teeny, I think we have our most dangerous member of LAVO.
Speaking of threat levels, Rome is immediately out looking for advantages and the tribe is hip to it. It’s quite the risk/reward for Rome and now he’s got the Beware Advantage. He’s quickly digging up the box with the second clue, just like Gabe, but in contrast, Rome has self control, not sloppy. Well done Rome, you balanced the risk/reward much better than Gabe at TUKU.
TUKU - Day 1
Gabe is trying to clean up his act and enlists Sue for the lookout as he digs up the box and runs off to open it before people can see him digging on the path to water. Gabe finally gets it open and finds…
ANOTHER BOX AND KEY hahahahahahahahahaha.
Come on Gabe, this is Survivor, you got to earn everything!!! However, Gabe has found an idol but it’s only good for one Tribal Council. Instead, he decides to forego that idol and his ability to vote for the risk of obtaining a different idol that is good for three Tribal Councils, but he loses his vote again and he has another task to complete to open the box and the 3 Tribal idol. Gabe was clean and then he got sloppy again with panic.
The point I must make is that there is nothing wrong with taking the idol good for one Tribal, using it, having a vote and ensuring that you are safe for the next Tribal. I know it’s easy for me to say from my couch but the disaster that Gabe just displayed is out of control.
GATA - Day 2
Jon is 41 and feels “old” in his tribe which seems to be not what he expected, but he’s smart enough and savvy enough to know the need to adapt. Especially as a speech writer where your job is to communicate and relate to people, he is using that to his advantage.
Rachel, the graphic designer is clueing us in on my suspicion about Andy from the initial marooning. After seeing Rachel break down Andy’s “radical” strategies, Andy is giving me a lesser Bhanu vibe. Too eager. Too giddy. Too much kid on Christmas morning can’t maintain control vibe. Like Bhanu. Maybe that will put Rachel in as this season dragon fairy aka Kenzie, which would mean Rachel will win.
Hmmmmm. Let’s not get too carried away, but we shall put a pin in that for now.
GATA - Night 2
Andy is spiraling!!! He feels insecure and Rachel is the one he chooses to take with him in the middle of the night, but she wasn’t having it. I can’t blame her. She didn’t want to hitch her wagon to the Bhanu of the season in Andy. Then, he starts the I’m the “least popular” anxiety begins and people are beginning to distance themselves or at least think about it.
Rachel and Jon are totally correct to distance themselves. In Survivor, anything can be a reason to alienate someone and make them the target of the next vote. Anxiety, hysteria and paranoia are not immune from causing players serious or even fatal problems in their game. Feels like Andy is headed for either an early exit, or at best, a couple episode hang on for dear life and then has to be cut, like Bhanu was last season.
TUKU - Day 3
The sun hasn’t risen on day 3 and Gabe is up and hunting for the next part of his idol hunt via smashing the piece of driftwood on the clue. He finds the key, goes to the box, opens it up and I was hoping that there would be another box inside.
BINGO!
The Russian Nesting Doll Immunity Idol chase continues!!! Gabe now has the idol good for 3 Tribals and his vote is restored or he can give it up and secure an idol good until final five. Gabe wisely chooses to let the 3 Tribal Immunity Idol and allow his game to begin to settle down.
LAVO - Day 3
Rome was busy early in the morning pouring water onto driftwood while the rest of the tribe is talking about his suspicious behavior on the beach. Rome had to take water and pour it on the driftwood and like the clue was straight out of the National Treasure movie series, it revealed where his key was.
WOW! So cool how Survivor did that. Seriously, like I need to know how they did that so that I can use it in my classroom or take the annual Easter Egg Hunt to a whole new level. Plus, Rome better do one hell of a job covering up these tracks that he’s leaving because there is literally a sentence written clear as day on a giant log.
Rome doesn’t hesitate to literally dive into the well and retrieve the key and he clearly gets caught by everyone. SLOPPY!!! Aysha, Teeny, Sol, and Kishan are literally using Rome’s rogue behavior to plan how he will be voted out. They call it a Beware Advantage for a reason and it feels like Rome is not doing himself any favors at LAVO. He is blatantly spitting in the face of the rest of LAVO and it’s all because of the lure that is gaining the Immunity Idol.
Rome may be falling quickly.
FIRST IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - Day 3
REWARD - 1st Place - Survivor Building Kit, 2nd Place - smaller tool kit
The 3 chests they’re retrieving in the water are massive. They look awkward, heavy, and a broken foot waiting to happen if you’re not careful. Plus, they can tip your boat which it does for TUKU and GATA.
“YOU WANTED SURVIVOR? YOU GOT SURVIVOR!” - Jeff Probst
A moment to acknowledge the one and only Jeff Probst folks. The guy delivers lines like this at the first Immunity Challenge because it’s just what the man does. Pencil him in for an Emmy in perpetuity.
LAVO avoids flipping their boat and makes it to the shore first by a landslide and begin pushing their boat up the beach and down the track. They are out of breath and taking their time, but quickly the edit shows that they have won first place and the large tool kit reward.
Down to GATA and TUKU, loser goes to Tribal Council.
Then, this happened…
Andy is lying down off to the side as his tribe is still battling to win immunity. Medical gets called in and Andy is an emotional disaster. Lucky for him, Jeff is coming to his side and talking him off the self imposed ledge he has put himself on. In his head, he is going to be voted out and he’s probably right.
After the challenge is over and GATA is headed to Tribal Council, Andy continues his car crash of an emotional melt down. This guy is Bhanu 2.0. He can’t control his emotions, AT ALL. Every ghost of anxiety’s and insecurity’s past traumas (nobody likes me, they cheered Jon opening a coconut and not me) are unearthed and he even reveals his intent to throw Jon, his “best friend” at camp, under the bus.
Jeff springs into Emmy Award winning action to spin the lesson of Andy to the rest of the players and to take the heat off of Andy as much as he can. Jon even spins the recent news with a comedic twist and doesn’t pile on Andy. He knows like we do that Andy is burying himself and he can’t get out of it. He’s not ok. He’s not built to withstand Survivor. I give the rest of the tribe a ton of credit for building him up back at camp and not just putting him out to pasture.
Now, Jon is left with the ripple effects of Andy calling him out and Rachel proposes to Jon telling Andy that it’s Jon. That’s never a good thing. Now, Jon is stuck trying to figure out how to survive this trainwreck because he feels that it’s either him or Andy. Jon is playing hard and the paranoia is driving the boat.
Now, Anika, Sam, and Sierra are weighing the physical strength of Andy and his complete liability mentally against Jon being physically weaker but mentally strong. For my money, you have to get rid of Andy. The guy is a total disaster. You can’t have another Bhanu situation. GATA cannot afford it.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 3
Sierra reveals her pregame prep and outs Anika as the leader who did her homework.
Jon is next up to summarize what camp life has really been. His way with words would be a MAJOR red flag for me if I was on a tribe with him.
Andy is given a music shifting moment to explain how he found community at home and how he has “come so far” to be able to showcase that on Survivor, even though he’s failing.
Jon shows mercy for Andy while still using humor. Feels like he is trying to not seem desperate and paranoid to the rest of the tribe and let Andy bury himself. Regardless of Andy “having a moment” you have to keep your eyes on the prize which is surviving the vote and targeting the loose cannon.
Rachel echoes the lessons learned from Bhanu in 46 and puts Andy in that category. She correctly reminds us that Andy could go on a journey and spill his guts to the other tribes. That would screw things up big time for the rest of GATA. She’s voting Andy.
PREDICTION: Andy gets voted out.
VOTES
Jon - 5
Anika - 1
WELL THAT SUCKS!!! Jon gets voted out because GATA chose “physical strength” and the mental liability of Andy over Jon’s intelligence. Feels like there is much more meat on the bone of Jon being the first boot and my guess is that his celebrity, background as a speech writer, easy to see intelligence, and likely his podcast/celebrity status left him a dead man walking.
I’m disappointed by this vote. Jon was BY FAR the most interesting player, but in Survivor, that can be enough to you voted out. Honestly, I would have voted him out too. I’m sure that he loves Survivor and wanted to play and yada yada yada. However, I got to believe that his career in politics has provided him even rarer opportunities in life than being a castaway on Survivor. He doesn’t need Survivor. Feels like he’s able to find the humor in being the first boot where everyone else wouldn’t have, especially Andy. At the end of the day, he’s going home to one of the most successful podcasts in the world and nobody else can say that. I guess I will have to subscribe to Pod Save America, like the rest of America, if I want to spend more time with Jon Lovett.
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